Who among us has never dreamed of changing everything? About escaping from the city to the countryside, about living a happy life in harmony with nature? The protagonists in the documentary The Biggest Little Farm have been dreaming about having their own biodynamic farm. The first step on the challenge-filled path to realizing this dream comes about somewhat by chance. The director, John Chester, and his wife, Molly (a chef), leave behind their small apartment in Los Angeles in 2011 because of their dog, Todd, whose barking annoys their neighbors. This exile provides them with the pretext for creating a completely natural farm called Apricot Lane. They take over 80 hectares of land in California and set up a new home there. With the help of friends and enthusiasts, Jack and Molly carry out an ambitious plan involving 10,000 trees, more than 200 types of crops, and dozens of animal species, using no harmful chemicals or advanced technology. For eight years, they adapt to nature and are constantly learning new things—about the world and about themselves. How do they deal with a plague of snails, coyotes, or bad weather? How is it that their dog looks after a flock of sheep and a pig makes friends with a rooster?
AFI Fest 2018 - Audience Award; Boulter IFF 2019 - Best Feature Documentary, Best Feature Length Film; Palm Springs IFF 2019 - Best Documentary; Sedona IFF 2019 - Best Documentary
Born in 1971, John Chester is a film and television director. His most recent short films, which were for made for OWN’s SuperSoul Sunday (Saving Emma, Worry for Maggie, The Orphan) won five Emmy Awards. He became more widely known in 2006 thanks to the documentary series Random 1 on A&E. The full-length documentary Lost in Woonsocket was made based on the series. In 2010, he directed Rock Prophecies for PBS, which won an audience award. The Biggest Little Farm premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in 2018; it was also shown in Berlin and Toronto, as well as at Sundance. A children’s book called Saving Emma the Pig that was inspired by the film was published in the spring of 2019.
2005 Euphoria (doc.)
2007 Lost in Woonsocket (doc.)
2009 Rock Prophecies (doc.)
2018 Nasze miejsce na Ziemi / The Biggest Little Farm (doc.)